smolder and burn
by Aiko Isari
Summary: Vengeance pumps in her heart next to the rose tattoo spreading out at her breast, red as the dragon comet overhead. Akari prays for the rose to not bloom, not until her oath brother's suffering is paid for a thousand fold. But the Bagra mercenary threatens that desire with just the right amount of sorrow and a poison sword. AU.
1. Akari 1

warning for implied violence and warfare.

* * *

 _Chapter One – The Sleeping Prince_ (Akari I)

The sounds all around her are her guide, next to the thumping of her heart in her chest.

"Above."

The voice made her raise her blade up on its side, the edges starting to crack in need of a whetstone. Lucky for her, the voice was true and the clang did not hit lower and crash into her nose. "Thanks, Knightmon."

"Aye, my lady."

Hinomoto Akari brushed her red hair back out of her face and pretended those words didn't make her eye twitch. It was just a smarter way to handle things, in the end. They were just being loyal and dutiful. Like soldiers were supposed to be. Except these needed to think. She had to pray they still were.

This wasn't a video game, especially not now. This was a war, and there were territories to conquer. And she had no powers to guide her, only instincts and wits.

Someone thumped beside her, Tsurugi Zenjirou with a blade made of stars. His buzzcut had long since been torn down in clumps, matted with dirt. She didn't bother to wrinkle her nose, she didn't have time. "Okay?" she asked instead.

"Somehow," He tightened his grip on the blade. "Blue Flare's really trying hard."

She scowled. "Oh I'll give that bastard something to try about." Akari put two fingers to her lips and whistled, before leaping up and out, scarlet Xros Loader flickering in the light of energy bullets. "Ready Shoutmon?"

"Hah, always." The raspy growl was somehow full of enviable cheer. Just thinking about it made her stomach clench with wonder and relief and pain. The weight of it all made her knees tremble for an instant too short to exploit. She sent her Xros Loader to the air and red light burst out in a dazzling streak of flame and sound.

This time, Akari managed to smile. Then she took up the hatchet at her shoulder and raced into the fray. The Gaozmon were easy to kill, once you broke their teeth. But she wasn't interested in them.

Her prey was human.

Her chest throbbed.

…

The strange war they fought in had no corpses, only streaks of human blood and results of rampage. And thankful civilians, always them.

Akari smiled at them, mouth a line. Small babies crowded around her ankles. Shoutmon soaked up it all, beaming and bragging as he set up new walls and set warm fires. This was his element. He was right at home. He was able to ignore the empty houses too shattered to repair with no one to fill them. Or, not ignore it, bu accept it. Then again, he had been born in a war zone, quite literally. This was probably old hand for someone like him.

No wonder he wanted to change it.

"Xros Heart is incredible!" squealed a little raccoon head, striped tail wagging. Zenjirou patted its head, sympathetic and craving someone's look, someone's hope. He was probably going to siphon it into himself, the bleeding heart. She bit her lip. She couldn't risk that.

"Let's retreat and rest for now everyone," she said, clapping her hands to get their attention. "Tomorrow, we'll make the gate back to Bastemon's castle and you guys can get some rest. The rest of us will search for the Code Crown."

There was a lot of cheering and waving at this. Honestly, she'd rather be behind someone else. But that was impossible. So she smiled a lot and waited for them to go. Then her shoulders slumped with exhausted relief. Shoutmon clapped her on the leg and beamed.

"C'mon," he said. "Lilymon and Mushmon have gotta have some grub ready by now."

Akari's teeth clenched around the retort. She nodded. She did need to eat. She needed to keep her strength up. He would tease her if she didn't. He would ask where he would be if she wasn't eating. But he wasn't here to ask that, so she could barely think to choke down food.

She managed it, however, and like always, took a resting spot away from the main camp. She liked the noise, but if they were attacked, it was better for her to be out of the periphery. Shoutmon always made his way to her eventually, whether she wanted it or not. He said it was because he liked her well enough. She thought he didn't want to lose another general. It was probably somewhere among the idea of both.

For now though, she laid back on the thin futon she had been given, smiling to herself. Another victory. She was getting better. Maybe it wasn't thinking like him, but did she need to to win this war? To fix things? It was hard to say.

She stared out into the sky, watching the many stars and moons. As she watched, she glimpsed the scarlet red tail, bright even over all of these Zones. It watched over them, it followed them, or it seemed like it did. As she watched it, Akari felt the now-familiar pain, carved into her chest. It twined down and down and she heard the voice that had left it over her skin, clear as day-

 _Can you kill yourself for him too?_

At the time, Akari had told that person yes. Now?

Now she was not so sure.

Was her brother worth the cunning she was getting? Was her best friend worth this feeling of change and progress?

Akari peeled off her sweat drenched shirt and looked at the rose on her chest. Its small bud poked out towards her collarbone. There was no change this time either, she noted. A heavy exhale of relief burst from her mouth and nose.

The crazed old knight had marked them both as revenge for their interference, as insurance. But it had all gone wrong. Either she could die and get rid of his Queen on the chessboard, or their King would sleep on and eventually, possibly die. The choice should be so simple.

It was anything but.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** _ Now this was meant to be for Femslash February, but things kind of happened so we got delayed a little... or a lot. Anyway, let's have fun with this! Please drop a review!

Challenges: Chapter Set Boot Camp prompt 28, AU Diversity Boot Camp soulmate!AU), Pairing Diversity Boot Camp - Roses, season rewrite boot camp - vanish, Novella Masterclass (Xros Wars) 7, soulmates challenge, Digimon Femslash Week Day 2 Fears, Diversity Writing Challenge J35, and Small Multichap Competition


	2. Nene 1

_Warning for implied murder and violence._

* * *

 _Chapter Two – Symphony in Death_ (Nene I)

The rapier gave a comfortable pulse against her palm. Amano Nene didn't swing it, as she had the first time. Rather, she left it in its sheath and stepped forward. Her shoes did not seem like they even touched the ground. With a careful thrust, the rapier's point sank into the gap in the dragon's scales. Nene stepped back, watching the brief blood trail and spurt before everything disappeared to the air and nothingness. Back to the earth, or more likely, to her master's palm.

She had started working this way believing they were one and the same. She supposed she was wrong.

"Nene!" whimpered the voice of her once eager friend. "They're coming!"

Nene knelt, careless of the mud, and picked up the little memory card before obediently turning around and climbing aboard. Then they were off, climbing atop the fighter jet, who obediently shot into the sky. She ducked her head into the comforting warmth of the metallic wings, blade vanishing into her Xros Loader.

Fashioned by a Rosemon, dancing with blood and poison, it was the greatest weapon she could ever wish for. It was the closest thing ot safety she held.

"Ready, Sparrowmon?"

"For you, Nene?" There was a nearly dramatic pause. "Always."

Nene let her giggles fade into the wind as she transferred the two of them out, letting herself smile where no one could hurt her-

Even her Xros Loader was safe now. Though that was for as long as she was good. She almost missed the black color. It was a good reminder of ash.

-But the thudding on her chest, on her body, she paused, gripping the familiar grooves on the wings left by her fingers.

 _A sign of her experience,_ her commander would call it. _A sign of her fear._

Those would be the words of the other. Lucky for her the laughing skull was currently buried.

As Digital Space vanished around her, Nene slipped her face back into its simple mask. She drew the real one over her eyes once more, leaving purple irises to peer out of fox slits.

"Tonight is the bluebell platter." Her voice was a gentle whisper. "Get your fill, okay?"

"Okay!" Why Sparrowmon was so obedient, why he loved her so much, she couldn't understand. But questioning these things had never ended well for her before. So she flew to the nearest tower balcony and dropped a few feet in the air. Anywhere else, that would have killed her. But in this world, it merely ended with her taking a few steps. She returned Sparrowmon with a nod of gratitude, making her way into the dark alcoves of Bagra Castle.

The first time she had been here, she had shivered from cold and nausea. Now the chill rolled off her back like raindrops. She had adjusted, as children often do.

What she had yet to adjust to, however, was the thud of her brother clamping onto her chest. "Welcome back!"

He was so innocently delighted, this cause of all of hermisfortune. But even now, her heart thudded too hard to keep herself from pulling at him and bringing him harm. She had a feeling he knew it too, knew it in his gut that maybe knew that this was a real world. "Sorry I took so long," she murmured. Nene had no idea if she actually was sorry. Hearing this idea of 'back', like they really belonged, it was a horrible, heart-wrenching thing. Thank goodness he hadn't said home.

"It's okay. Sniping games are rather difficult, aren't they?"

"I don't really snipe too often, Yuu." She bit her tongue to swallow the laughter buried in her stomach at the absurdity of this discussion. Then she was biting down a scream of pain. Her knees buckled, her chest flared and the mask crumbled as she suddenly leaned against Yuu for strength, for control and that was all wrong, he had to lean on her but-

The comet blazed on, its heat not felt until that very moment where it was in her lungs. She cried out in pain at last, unable to contain it as the fire above and in her stomach twisted. Mercifully, she felt the world turn black after she drew into herself. By the time it all receded, she could see jagged scarlet eyes staring her in the face and the gray ceiling overhead.

"My lord," Nene croaked. "Forgive me. I was unprepared for sensation."

The tall, dark angel was quiet, observing her. Feeling a strange chill in the air, Nene made herself look down. She fought down a flush of rage at the sight of her bare torso.

"Forgive me," Bagramon said with an inclination of his head. "I wanted to find the source of the pain. The mark on your chest has begun to move further down. I will worry on your behalf."

"It didn't hurt before!" Yuu's voice watered like his eyes, even from a distance away and all Nene could think was _thank the gods._ He wasn't completely gone yet. "Did it?"

"No." Nene admitted this freely, reaching for the cup of water next to her.

"This is to do with the red army." Bagramon helped her rise with surprising gentleness from his bone arm. "And the dark knight."

 _Your brother._ "Yes, my lord," she agreed. "I do believe so. The girl and I were caught in his rage. I've suspected something to do with it, along with the aftereffects of the Lucemon's magic." Wow, that was pulled superbly from nowhere. Nene offered herself some mental applause.

A nod, short and clipped. "Then we must investigate it. It may lead to the whereabouts of the missing red general. An enemy we cannot track has a knife to our necks, more often than not."

Nene could not imagine the red general being anything much of the sort, but she agreed, if only to be able to look for answers. She'd rather not die in pain from a tattoo, thank you. "I shall investigate on the morrow, if you allow me."

"See that you do."

Nene watched him go, then slumped in her bed. Her brother immediately crawled up to her, like they were small and this was just a bad dream.

"It'll be okay, Nee-san," he said, trying to smile all the more. "We're gonna win this game."

"We will," Nene agreed, looking into his guileless, false smile. _But should we?_


	3. Akari II

_Warning for bonds and injury_

* * *

 **Chapter Three – A Scarlet Dance (Akari II)**

DigiXros would have been impossible three months ago.

Clutching the red Xros Loader to her chest, Akari gathered herself and willed it, willed Dorulumon to listen to Shoutmon, for Shoutmon to destroy the obstacle in front of her.

Her chest throbbed, but they obeyed. Shoutmon X4 launched through the air like he could actually fly.

(Of course, he couldn't. That chance had been spoiled long ago.)

She rode the rush enough to climb out of the way of something dumb enough to leap towards her like it could accomplish something with her death. With a slightly heady rush, she swung out with the Xros Loader and the green light pulsed from the screen sourced from her fingers.

Zenjirou, ever reactive, swung his weapon to cut right into its face. It shrieked rage. Zenjirou winced, grunting with the effort. "Careful," she told him. He made a face at her and adjusted the green goggles over his eyes once more.

"You're telling me to be careful." he reminded her, a faint grin on his face.

Akari rolled her eyes, smiling a little herself. "You're right, you're the wrong person to bring this up to. I'll just scrape you off the nearest relatively flat surface."

"Good! We have reached an understanding!" He raced back into battle again. Akari, chuckling a little, remembering how to laugh even, made to join him.

Then a chill ran up her spine. She ducked and rolled behind a tree, hearing the sound of steel hitting hard earth.

"Damn," the wielder uttered softly. "I thought you were distracted."

Soft, female. Shit. Akari scrambled to tighten her grip on the Xros Loader. "Wisemon," she whispered, desperate and praying that all this time in the digital world had not magically augmented her hearing. "I need your help please!"

"Hmph." He grunted with amusement. "Well, if I must. Keep away from her if you can. Or at least keep her from killing you."

"Well, it'll all be useless if I die," she muttered. Akari returned the Xros Loader to its ratty red holster. She crouched and leaped to the side, briefly in view. A laser went careening over her head, disintegrating the tree behind her. She exhaled as quietly as possible, which conflicted with her desire to shriek and run away in terror. She grabbed another branch and threw it behind the tree. It went about as well as expected, missing and followed by the sharp gleam of violet eyes and a sword dancing in the light.

Akari leaped forward in that moment and shoved with all of her weight. Stocky as she was after weeks of walking through zones and generally fighting as she had been, she threw the other girl off balance. She took another step forward and threw her weight on her elbow. Hearing that loud, wet cough was all the signal she needed. She quickly rolled off of her, She made to scramble away but then-

Her stomach caved for a moment and she stumbled, letting out desperate coughs for air, wheezing for breath. She glanced towards the girl - towards Nene - and saw her coughing to breathe. There was a bright purple light glowing from her clothes and as she looked at it, an orange pulsed under her shirt. She choked.

"No," she spat, getting her bearings just as Nene visibly gathered hers. "No." This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be the way things went. Not after-

 _"Run, Akari!" His voice was so clear in her head even now, so calm. "Hurry up and run! I'll work things out somehow."_

She felt the comet pulse and doubled over with agony, clutching her chest as _it_ spread again, inexplicably hot. Akari lifted her eyes to Nene's own incredulous purple, her own fearful dismay.

She doesn't want this either, one part of her said with pity.

 _She caused it_ , said another in a vindictive rage.

 _We're hurting her,_ said the third, the one that sounded like the person she missed like a working aorta. The one that sounded the most understanding and most forgiving.

Being in a lot of pain, Akari chose to ignore that for the moment. "Why you?" she managed to wheeze. "Why _you_?"

Nene laughed, breathless and it sounded like music. "We must be the same, you and I."

The pain fell back to a distant pit in her stomach, replaced by ice-cold anger. "We are not," Akari snapped. "He tried to help you. He tried to save you and you let that freak-"

Whatever she had been meaning to say was drowned out in a sudden, gleaming shine around her chest and winding down her back, vivid cold blue, unlike the previous red.

"Akari," Wisemon said softly. "Take three steps back."

Akari forced her limbs to obey. Nene was watching her, breathing hard, blood trickling down from her shoulder. She was certain if she looked down at herself it would be the same. But she could not, would not risk it. It would kill her resolve and she couldn't do this the way he did it. She couldn't try to save people. There was no time.

On the third step, Shoutmon X4 scooped her up and retreated, leaving the Code Crown behind.

Cutemon was still tracing her chest with his paws long after the mark had stopped bleeding, beady black eyes full of wonder and fear. He was a healer. Something he could only close and not fix must have been both fascinating and terrifying to him. Akari smiled and pet the rabbit on the head. "I'm okay," she croaked.

"You are not, kyu," he replied with that terrible bluntness Shoutmon must have given him. "This isn't an ordinary wound, kyu. It's rather like a curse."

Akari grimaced. "I was afraid you'd say something like that." She looked around the room, the tiny hut here in the last Zone they had saved. The others weren't here. Maybe they were outside. Maybe they were gathering supplies. She hoped it was the latter.

A curse connected to Amano Nene. Her life connected to Amano Nene.

She wanted to cry. But instead, she swallowed that fear, that anger, and guilt and looked at his red Xros Loader.

"Wisemon," she said quickly. "Start scanning me before the others get back."

She needed to give them results, not tears.


	4. Nene II

_Chapter Four – The Dreaming Clown (Nene II)_

Yuu was crying.

Boy, she hadn't seen that in a while. It had never _irritated her_ like this before either. But then, he had hardly ever felt concern for her, the immortal older sister. So seeing him crying at her bedside, despite his beliefs, gave a sparkle of… something. She wouldn't call it hope. That was too sentimental, but a possibility, yes. Maybe he would realize just what he was doing before he descended into true callous cruelty. Or maybe she would have to do to him what Aonuma Kiriha had spoken of, so long ago. The last time she had seen him with the red general's blood painting the ground and the wind and violence cutting a jagged scar on his face.

" _One boy isn't worth all this, Amano Nene," he had said, full of wrath. "One little ungrateful kid isn't worth you."_

But then, Kiriha hadn't understood. She had tried to explain it all to him and had utterly failed. Father had made her promise. Mother had made her promise: Yuu was hers to look after, hers to take care of, no matter what he became because he did not belong here. He belonged in their mother's home country, He belonged in a place where he wasn't special and exotic and foreign, but just a bit of an unusual person.

He sure as hell didn't belong in this world, not even close. Not when he felt free to hurt and kill innocent creatures. Not if and when he had thought for an instant, of killing her, just because he thought everything wasn't real.

" _It won't hurt,"_ she heard whenever she hugged him and shut her eyes. _"He told me so. It'll just send you home."_

She had never been so happy to have seen Bagramon in her life that day. And she never would be again, if she had anything to say about it. She just had to keep working at this, biding her time. There was only one chance at this method, at this plan.

Either she saved Yuu, or she carried his body home, and had to live with that fact.

For now, though, she had to deliver this report.

The stepped into the dark and lavish throne room, lit by large groups of candles and a singular, strange crystal overhead. The Bagra Army, with victory close at hand, could afford to be opulent, she supposed. Nene knelt, as she knew was safe to do in these circumstances. Her chest didn't throb anymore, which was a relief in and of itself. It meant she was likely not able to be tracked by this tattoo or they were too far apart. And it meant that she was healed. But it could start again. It could start again very easily. And the safest way to prevent that from making her a liability was to admit it and get people onto it.

"You look tense, little viper."

"The nickname is new but welcomed," she replied in answer, trying not to shudder at it. He said the whole thing so clinically, like he had never met an affection he had understood. "I am tense due to a discovery I made on a territory I recently reclaimed."

Bagramon's one remaining eyebrow rose high and he almost leaned forward. "About the mark and injury, correct?"

 _He's teasing me._ She didn't think he had any answers, mind you, but she knew he was hiding something. HE always was. "Yes. When an injury was given to an opponent from Xros Heart, the painful rebound also affected me as well. I recovered quickly once we were apart, however..."

"Yes it would be quite destabilizing if that continued to take you off guard. Amano Yuu would not appreciate your death, much as he claims otherwise."

Nene regarded the Dark King, and he regarded her in turn. "Did you cause him to believe that?"

"It wouldn't benefit me to do so." He waved his humanoid arm. "His current work is sloppy and reckless. It gets the job done, and there are shades of cleverness, but he is still a boy."

"You called Kiriha-kun here, didn't you? Isn't he a boy?"

Bagramon smiled and the face was like the gentlest ape. "All the generals are children for a reason, Amano Nene. Perhaps you, the unwanted one, will understand why the most."

Nene doesn't flinch at the backhanded compliment. Their parents preferred a smart son, even if the world was convinced otherwise. His statement was only fact, nothing more. So she turned the question inward. Children were chicks coming out of a shell. Learning out of the world, and adults were meant to guide.

She made a face. "Puppeteers."

"Even those who brandish justice," Bagramon allowed with a chuckle. "That is what parenthood often becomes. It is what siblings often become in the less ideal. Humankind merely dresses it up."

Nene tried not to snort out loud. It wasn't just humans who did that, but that was a delusion a powerful digimon could just have, she supposed. "As you say. And?"

"Children are malleable. The young must be. How else will they learn?" Bagramon merely sighed. "My brother thought the same of you both. Except it was less to learn and more to _use_. You understand?"

"I do." She worried her lip a moment, the easiest way to slip around it all. "Now… the mark."

"Yes, let me see it."

Nene paused, a sickening bile in her throat at the very thought of him seeing anything of her bare. _For Yuu,_ she thought firmly. _For yourself. For home._

Going home was a pipe dream, but she would dream it.

So she did so, and quickly, stepping closer. He offered her his wooden palm. She rested on her knees and waited. His eyes regarded her critically for a moment, and then he dismissed her down. She redressed without a word and waited for his analysis.

"Your soul was tampered with," he said after a few seconds. "Its color has changed, like a child placing a print over a monotonous wall. My hypothesis is that whatever called the comet and the result of that comet, connected you to one of the people closest to you."

Nene was quiet a moment. Then she laughed so loud she almost cried.

The Dark Knight and the Red General. In the end, it always was going to come back to the two of them.

"It seems," Bagramon said with a light sigh. "I will have to speed up the search for my brother after all."


	5. Akari III

_Chapter Five – A Brilliant Scarlet_ (Akari III)

The closest thing that Wisemon could answer her concerns with was: You two are bonded by your soul, by my analysis' and that very thought made Akari sick. How was this even possible?

She could barely remember what happened that day. Whatever it was, however, had created the comet and turned her into what was, in essence, a free-wielding hostage. She could die and kill Nene, but Nene was ultimately a pawn in the grand scheme of things. She had to be. Otherwise, she wouldn't be in the field. Dorulumon had determined that himself. The most valuable things were either shielded and kept safe or hidden by something more valuable. That was how the Bagra Army worked. Everyone was a pawn, even the head himself if need be, according to those who pretended they were on the side of the dark and evil. Everything proceeded to the main goal.

"Digimon have souls?" She, like her mother, wasn't particularly religious. She, of course, understood the concept of the soul, but she wasn't sure she believed in it, especially in the idea of Digital Monsters (which Ballistamon had unhelpfully told her their species name meant). "This sounds like Blade Runner."

"Never heard of it," Shoutmon said with a shrug. He hummed lazily into his mic, only looking up once in a while as they walked. "But yeah, course we got Souls. My 'Rock Soul' ain't just named for the fiery passion I throw into it ya know?"

"What, does it grow back or something?"

Shoutmon shrugged, blocky red shoulders creaking ever so slightly. "Yeah I guess."

Akari played with her cropped hair. At her insistence, Zenjirou had left none of it to the neon colorful hair ties. Perhaps Amano Nene had the confidence to wear her long hair could be grabbed in battle but she did not. "Okay, so that doesn't help me understand why a comet and DarkKnightmon's… everything, is why I have a soul bond with who is now a Bagra Army soldier."

"Nene-san must have a reason for it." Zenjirou's voice was weary and Akari resisted the tug of anger deep in her gut. He just had a crush on her, a stupid, incomprehensible infatuation when the girl had-

"She left us to die, Zenjirou," she finally said, before Dorulumon could open his mouth.

Zenjirou only shrugged, none of that usual annoying, rampant fire present in his face. Like her, it was like he was hardening, stiffening up. "Kiriha did the same."

Akari grit her teeth and then reluctantly loosened her fists. He was right… he was right, but…

She exhaled. "She played with my best friend. For no reason."

"Seemingly no reason," Dorulumon eventually corrected, balancing a dozing Cutemon, who was recovering still from the effects of the stupid, terrible soul bond. Akari looked at him, eyes going wide in outrage and the wolf only shrugged. "Perhaps she has something she is afraid to lose. It can be used."

Shoutmon made a face at all of them. "So we're gonna become just like them, just like that?"

Akari hesitated. "I..." How could she answer that? She _wasn't_ Taiki, the martyr, the one with the selflessly big heart. She had a heart meant for only a few people and she had all she could fit for now.

"Taiki wouldn't want that." Shoutmon stopped, turned around to face them. His diminutive body was somehow a little taller, just on the way he stood alone with his shadow in the wind. "I don't want that. We don't need to use other people's… weak spots or whatever! We've already got her as a hostage as it is!"

Akari stopped herself and looked up at the sky. "If I decided to hit her where it hurt," she began slowly. "Would you stop me?"

Shoutmon glared right back up at her like he believed she would. He might. He was a straightforward, honest kind of person. Not even Lucemon, Lucemon who had used all of them because it was easy, Ba'almon who had been murdered and revived because his trust was used and preyed upon, and now… now even his own soul brother being gone was not enough to deter his straightforward, heart-guided decision making.

Then, he relented., loosening his stance. "Yeah," he said in a gruff voice. "Because you're a good person Akari. And it'd kill you to do it."

Akari felt sick with envy and guilt. A lot of this was guilt. Because Shoutmon had been a soldier from the beginning, had grown up in this strange hopeless world, and had hope. The fact that he carried it for this long was nothing short of a miracle.

The worst part of it was that he was right.

So she smiled because it felt good to do it. "Thanks." She took a deep breath, then exhaled. "We'll keep off kidnapping whoever she's looking after for now, but we do have to use the fact that one of us dying harms the other. It means she'll be careful."

Everyone agreed with that, thank goodness. She was already tired and they'd just gotten here.

"Dorulumon, find a spot to camp," she ordered gently. "I'm going to keep looking for Kiriha. Shoutmon?"

Which was why they were here in the first place. This was the fifth Zone they had scoured for Aonuma Kiriha, who had retreated in a spitting, angry rage after the events in Sky Zone.

Shoutmon shrugged, going to her side. It tugged at her chest but she said nothing about it.

Zenjirou looked at her, through her and it hurt to see that face too, that loss of exuberance. They needed to get their friend back to normal and go home, away from this mess. It wouldn't mean escaping or anything. Just recuperating. That was unless they got lucky and they managed to defeat those monsters. Then he nodded. "I'll take the forest with Ballistamon," he offered.

Akari smiled in gratitude and she took Shoutmon away.

The red Xros Loader had never felt heavier as they walked.

The soft marsh around the lake was silent. Eerily silent. Then again, she figured that Kiriha wasn't one for visitors or living guests so that they were able to enter unscathed was either a miracle or a problem.

The second she thought that the marsh rustled behind her. She saw a flash of blond hair, but she registered too late that it was too dark and then there was a sword at her throat.


	6. Nene III

_Chapter Six – Monsters Fear to Tread (Nene III)_

Nene listened for Lillithmon's slow, halting steps to fade away before heading into one of the bathrooms. She didn't really care if other people showered in the same place as her, it was a communal shower with multiple stalls. This was a converted military base after all. However, by now _everyone_ knew of how Lillithmon had manipulated both the Holy Sect of the Goddess and the supposed leader of the Demon Lords under her thrall. Nene refused to allow that to be her or hers. That was tantamount to suicide.

Besides, she had a poisonous hand and a fondness for skinship to boot? Who in their right mind would risk that?

Nene slipped about the empty bathroom, silently placing the Xros Loader in the nearest safe soap rack. It was waterproof and she didn't want to take any chances. Any soldier could be foolish enough to come in here and pick a fight. Expendable human though she may be, she was the only reason Yuu didn't strike out on his own. It would be a death wish on his part, but the reckless boy would consider it if it benefited him. Especially since he still thought he couldn't die.

She needed to tell him. She didn't know how to prove it but she needed him to understand what he was doing before he really killed someone.

If she could find the red general, maybe he could stand a chance to knock the realization into her brother somehow. But he had fallen when the comet had come and Xros Heart had hidden his body so effectively, he might as well have been dead.

It would have been great if DarkKnightmon had been confirmed dead in the process. But he wasn't.

Nene ran her fingers through her hair, pulling the last strands of caked dirt and blood from her latest mission. She wondered if Hinomoto Akari felt it when Nene herself took a life, if the blood that shouldn't exist spilled over her nails and palms and seeped in so deep that it painted her palms a new color. Nene doubted it sincerely and hoped it would never be the case. Even though she was an enemy even now, Nene wouldn't wish for someone else to carry her sins as well as their own, not without it being their own decision.

She finished with her hair and moved on, thinking of solitude, thinking of the peace offering that Bagramon gave to people by letting there be no observation in the showers. It was more of a peace offering to her, really. No one else really cared. But she enjoyed using it to its fullest potential – to plan.

Or at least, up until moments ago, she had been.

Before she could reach for her socks, a thin trail of blood dripped onto the floor. Then another.

Then her throat started to ache.

Nene ran her fingers over it and it came up red. The scratch was thin but the intent, even like this, was inherently clear.

The next hit would most certainly be fatal if aimed at that point.

Her eyes scanned the room. There had been no wires or traps in here. Anything of the sort would have been noticed when she walked in. she would have tripped something by accident. The soldiers here were too clumsy to do anything else, thankfully. When they came here at all.

Finding nothing, Nene finished dressing. It was nothing to do with her and her nails weren't long enough. That meant her new… soulmate, so to speak, was in life-threatening danger.

Nene wished she had the voice to curse. As it was, she didn't want to agitate her throat. The wound felt too deep to be an accident. Someone was going after her. Maybe they were just trying to eliminate Xros Heart. That would make sense. Perhaps Kiriha-kun had tried to cut off some loose ends.

Well, they weren't loose ends, not to her. Not to anyone with any sense. They were people. He probably knew that. Maybe there were yet to be aware people in the army, though she doubted the knowledge had spread particularly far.

Not that that changed what she had to do. She had to go against what would likely be a kill on sight order and save her opponent's life. For the sake of her own.

Nothing else.

Fully dressed, she left the room and strode to the nearest balcony. Her body was starting to hurt more, each limb feeling like it was twisted through a sieve.

Summoning her partner, she leaped to their back. "Let's go, Sparrowmon," she instructed.

The little jet chirped their excitement. "Where are we going, Nene?"

Nene mentally cursed. She should have thought of that. She shut her eyes.

In the stories of soulmates, in cheesy romance novels, the person could track the other. They would just somehow know and fly to their rescue or even just to be with them as a normal person would be. That wouldn't be the case here.

Then again, this was the world where its law and order was decided by what were essentially pieces of the puzzle.

So Nene took a deep breath in and then out. She traced the feeling of the blood at her neck, the pain like a heavy fall on her body. She slipped into it and smelled water. Lake water, no salt. Uncut grass, and the faintest whiff of metal. It sounded like there were snapping jaws, snarls. Someone was speaking, a measured calm but there was a giddiness to their voice. The childlike giddy feeling of someone who had found a purpose and a way to fulfill said purpose.

And the voice was unfamiliar to the other person but Nene, once she listened a little harder, felt ice drop into her stomach.

"Zone Transfer," she said. Her voice was firm and filled with dread.

Her duty and her reality were already clashing together. It was too soon. She wasn't ready to look her brother in the eye and tell him the truth just yet. Not again.

But if she didn't, two people, possibly more, would die.


	7. Akari IV

_Chapter Seven – The Lines We Draw (Akari IV)_

Akari was getting really good at dodging, she was starting to realize. It made her feel good. She wasn't slacking off, even without Taiki to dive after. It was probably from running after Zenjirou and Shoutmon instead. And it was making this guy mad.

Still. She couldn't believe someone shorter than her had gotten that much of a jump on her. She had a _war_ to win. She couldn't afford to lose like this.

She definitely wasn't going to die here.

Shoutmon, of course, agreed with her. He lunged forward to take her place, grabbing the blade in his bare hands. He tossed his mic to her without hesitation, just in case. A fireball formed quickly over his fingers, thrown at the human boy's head like a pitcher aiming for a strike.

The boy scrambled back with a yelp of pain. "Hey!" he said. "That could have hurt!"

Shoutmon formed another one. "That was kind of the point idiot! Akari, get back up!"

Akari was trying not to roll her eyes. "Already on it!" This wasn't her Xros Loader, so what she could really do with it was limited. Thankfully the things were very adaptable and had given her something else instead: a help beacon.

It was shamelessly bright and terribly loud. Shoutmon, being used to both of those things from Bagramon raids could easily ignore it because he was already there. This human boy could not and threw himself back, squealing in pain.

Shoutmon was an idealist. He wasn't stupid. He swung his microphone, sharp edges facing the other way, and smacked the kid hard enough for him to roll up to the nearest tree.

"Ow," the boy muttered.

Akari holstered the Xros Loader, already scrounging in her bag and pockets until she found bandages. She began to tie and wind, continuing to step further from the boy's reach. He didn't seem like he was going to get up, but she was sure people had thought that about Shoutmon too and there he was.

Also despite the tears of pain, the boy's eyes looked particularly murderous. Who was this kid anyway? He had barely taken his eyes off of her.

Which really didn't end well when it came to fighting a two-pronged group. Shoutmon had no reason to not hurt him, only not kill him. The kid had apparently no way of killing him, but every reason to do it.

He thrust his weapon forward and it was good. Akari had seen enough matches to recogize strong footwork and well-timed moves. Those things just didn't matter to Shoutmon the living bulldozer. Shoutmon stepped to the side and swung his mic into the kid's hand. There was a sickening crack as the weapon left his hand and the boy wailed sharply. Again, however, Shoutmon didn't let him do anything. He continued his spin and strike, knocking the boy to the ground again.

It was almost pathetic, Akari couldn't help but think with pity as the boy whimpered in pain, clutching his crushed hand and tried to stand anyway. She finished tying the bandage on her throat, the wound really and truly starting to sting. She didn't dare risk talking. It all hurt too much for her to dare try.

Lucky for her, Shoutmon, again, got the message. "Who the heck are you kid?" He scowled. "You aren't supposed to swing a weapon around like that. You'd have killed Akari."

The boy managed to glare through watering eyes. "That was the point," he said icily. Moxie, this one, despite being pitiful as hell. "Killing her was what I came here to do."

"Chatterbox we got here," Akari muttered before she could stop herself. Then she raised her voice. "Okay, I'll bite. Why?"

Unfortunately the boy was a quick learner. "None of your business!" he shot back, finally catching on and going for Shoutmon first.

 _Bagra then._ It wasn't Kiriha. Kiriha wasn't that stupid. He would keep her alive in order to find her best friend's body. Then he'd go and kill that because what else did he have to lose? They must have found out about the soul bond and were trying to test if the rumors were true. But would it be the worst kept secret? Was Nene not that important in the long run?

The sound of metal hitting metal drew Akari out of her thoughts and she moved a little closer to the water, reaching for stones.

 _You could kill him,_ the back of her mind reasoned.

 _Not if he's a digimon,_ said another part of him. But was he? Most Digimon, no matter how small, could go toe-to-toe with Shoutmon better than that even if they were bloody cowards.

Oh, did she have questions. If he was another human, he had to be another general, and he had to be Bagra Army because who else would impulsively kill another human without it being in self-defense or without confusion. He had known she was here somehow. Bagra could probably track them… oh.

 _Someone was going to die and it was going to be ugly._

Well, this could be dealt with once they had the kid pinned to the ground and away from sharp, pointy objects. Seriously what was wrong with this kid?"

The boy glared, hard. Then a nasty smile crossed his face and he moved one hand towards a pocket.

Shoutmon, being Shoutmon, broke his nose.

Akari would have laughed if the boy hadn't screamed the following:

" _It's not supposed to hurt like that!"_

Like, what did that even mean?

This was, of course, when Amano Nene arrived, diving down like the Queen of Dragons rather than atop a garish talking jet plane. But whatever, it still made her heart jump up and down and later she would curse why.

Maybe it was the whole, thank god, a meat shield appeared. Maybe it was the real concern for her life, even if it was just in relation to her own.

Of course, that relief lasted for all of twenty-five seconds. That was just long enough for Akari to feel grateful for Nene standing beside her. Not right, but grateful. For now. And even that was making her uncomfortable.

Then, of course, a great blue dino dragon fell from the sky and made a crater.

"Drama queen," Akari couldn't help but say under her breath.

"Oh good," Kiriha said dryly. "I can get rid of all of you at once."

Nene, despite the situation, let out a laugh.


	8. Nene IV

_Chapter Eight – Because Everything Is Broken_ (Nene IV)

Amano Nene swooped into a situation that would have been comical if it hadn't been just plain sad. Her brother's nose was bleeding and broken, Akari's throat was bandaged, and Aonuma Kiriha had decided to make a dramatic entrance as per usual for him.

Oh and casually speak of "getting rid of them". As if he could actually murder anyone.

Yes, because he'd been doing so well at doing that before.

Nene smiled a little, standing beside Akari and trying to pretend like all the tension wasn't leaving her body. Because that was weird. That was a thing for romances and fairy tales.

Things her brother believed in without a doubt.

She turned to Yuu paying Kiriha no mind. It was a child's technique for sure, but he had always reacted to it before. If he didn't now, she would take it as a sign of his maturity. Theoretically at any rate.

"Yuu," she began, regarding his broken nose and bruised face, the state of his weapn and the tears on his face. "Did you really?"

She didn't bother to complete the question because her little brother's face was turning crimson with anger and petulance. She had spoiled him so _rotten_ and it was hurting them both now. He looked so hurt too, shamed and indignant at his failure. Honestly, had DarkKnightmon made him think that this was going to be easy? That killing was easy? It wasn't a game and yet… yet he still thought so.

"I was helping," he said, his voice coming from somewhere underwater. "It's her fault that happened, I bet. Getting rid of her will fix it."

"Getting rid of her will _kill her_ ," Nene corrected, voicing the words out loud that she didn't want to but needed to because she didn't need anyone's _pity_. "And me, if you were eavesdropping on my conversation like I bet you were."

Yuu made a face. "You wouldn't die," he said, stumbling over the word at the end. "You'd just go home. And I'd be there once the game was over. She'd be fine. You would be fine"

Akari made a choking noise in the back of her throat and Kiriha snorted like a donkey. "Stubborn brat aren't you," he said dryly. "What, did no one tell you that when you came here? Haven't you watched an anime? You know, 'people die when they are killed?'"

Yuu bristled and Nene did not smile. She really wanted to because it was all very silly and serious and adult wasn't it?

"Even if I wasn't going to die, Yuu," she said with a terrible amount of patience where did it come from even? "I still had to experience my throat being cut. It still hurts. Even if that doesn't kill me-" Which it would have- "It's still the sensation of feeling my throat cut. If I hadn't had my wits about me, I could have fallen, gone into shock and hit my head. And no one would have known."

To be more accurate, no one would have done anything. She was one of the two humans in the castle, and no one actually cared about whether she lived or died or not aside from Yuu.

And she was starting to wonder if he did.

"Even if I had survived that," she finished. "I would have been in a lot of pain."

Something in Yuu's face went slack and his pasty skin turned a pale green. "Like grandma?" he whispered.

Nene had to resist the urge to snap and scream and howl because was that it? Was that the source of everything? Their _grandmother_? Who had been relatively peaceful and pain-free and they had only seen three times a year. Who had loved Yuu, for certain, but called him by his father's name and accused her of being a _harlot_ more than once.

Then she remembered. Her brother was, deep down, afraid of so much. He couldn't help herself.

"Yes," she said with soft, firm finality. "Much like grandmother."

Who had named her heir, her name in a moment of lucidity, not father's or mother's or his, but hers. And had looked at her in one of her last moments and hissed the words of promise that had defined her grandmother through death to life and now to death again.

" _We hold our own."_

And the words had mystified her then where they couldn't now.

"For now," Yuu, she said softly. "Stay back."

She then turned to Akari. "sorry about that," Nene said. Her voice felt curt in her throat but her body was still thrumming with anger. Thrumming with disappointment and failure. Her brother was good, so good and innocent and all innocence meant here was _stupidity._ "He tried to kill you like-"

"Like there are all the easy answers," Akari finished. Her eyes were still riveted on an amused Kiriha. "Looks familiar."

And that was the only warning before that orange wolf slammed into Kiriha's metal bird and all hell proceeded to break loose.

"We know how to deal with that too," she finished grimly, the red Xros Loader's screen burning bright.

* * *

The meteor was closer today.

Bagramon – and Wisemon too would admit this if he was around and in the position to do so, as he so loved a good rival – had been observing it since it had first appeared in the sky. It had, according to all reports, appeared in every Zone and _every sky_ , as if there were a meteor ready to destroy every world.

This was nothing like he had thought it would be, the end of the world. Then again, he had assumed he would be the one causing it, wiping out every life one by one and remaking it, all to his own rhythm.

Was it arrogance to assume he still could?

"Bagramon-sama!" called a voice and he turned to it, to one of many. "We've… we've found your brother!"

Bagramon smiled and let out a single laugh.

The meteor continued to fall, obscenely slow.


	9. Akari V

_Chapter Nine – The Rush of Battle_ (Akari V)

When she had the brainpower, time, and sanity, Akari was definitely going to contemplate the sheer amount of crap thrown around in that whole conversation. For now, however, she was going to focus on getting out of here, and with a hostage to boot.

There really was no point in leaving Nene over there, she apparently had a brother (one bloodthirsty, stupid brat to boot, if her brothers even got close to being like him, she was going to get her parents to send them off to boarding school. Not risking any of that.) and he didn't seem to understand what he was doing.

That explained why she was here at least and with Bagra, even after what they did.

Akari didn't feel bad about it. But- "Dorulumon, spin to the right!"

The wolf did so, drill tail slamming hard into the nearest blue dragon thing that was more teeth than dinosaur dragon. It squeaked, knocking into its brethren and toppling them like dominos. Akari took that opportunity to give a firm yank on Nene's hand. The older girl looked at her, slightly down and eyes strangely too big. Akari felt a rush of warmth in her throat and fought to drown it out.

"Come on," she said. "I think we'd better stick together and not die."

Because that brother of hers had still decided murder was the best option and she hadn't exactly talked him out of it. Or maybe couldn't. Imagine that family argument.

She watched the war on Nene's face and then yanked her onto Dorulumon's back anyway. Nene let out a yelp of pain and Akari felt a horrible twinge go down her arm. Whatever, she'd feel more guilty out of the line of fire. Dorulumon galloped away, Shoutmon threw a fireball into the grass, causing it to start to smoke and burn with heat.

"Let go," Nene muttered, starting to tug. Akari forced herself to tighten her grip on that thin wrist.

"Nope," Akari debated sinking her nails into Nene's wrist to prove the point, but that would do no one any good. And all she wanted to do was snatch her up and run but so long as Kiriha was letting his MetalGreymon rain lasers, there was no time to impress how strong she wasn' on her.

Nene looked back, heart in her mouth. She searched for her brother and only saw a purple and white shroud wrap around his whimpering form and disappear.

She cursed and at the sound of her words, Sparrowmon acted.

Not against Xros Heart mind you. Their heart had already been wavering to that. They had saved Nene once upon a time and a debt had to be properly paid back, but against Blue Flare, who may have helped, but also immensely got in Nene's way.

And Akari could only guess about the brother. She could never imagine her family doing this. She could never imagine her best friend thinking that. He'd lost his mind because of a kid dying because he happened to listen to them and keep walking. That did not seem like what Amano Yuu was doing.

But then, she'd have to ask later-

"Shoutmon," she shouted as Sparrowmon went careening down hard enough to smack Metal Greymon back a good six meters. "Can you guys like, not hit us?!" Nene was trying to free her hand again. Akari gave up on being nice about it and smacked her in the throat. It hurt like hell the second after she did it but it gave her enough time to haul Nene onto Dorulumon so they could get back far enough to open a path to another Zone.

"You're taller than me," he said with a scowl. "I've got a range you know."

Akari managed to get them both up and steady. "Do me a favor and expand it."

As she said that, Kiriha cursed loudly because Zenjirou had gotten through his troops behind Ballistamon and managed to slice his coat and shirt open with the Star Sword and draw blood.

"Retreat, Zenjirou!" she shouted, but he was already doing it, dodging Kiriha's attempts at fists flying and MetalGreymon suddenly realizing how out of place he was in a battle of small things and attempting to separate into the midst of it.

Then Sparrowmon crashed into him. This time, they weren't as lucky as the first time. Metalgreymon caught them with their one hand and threw them to the ground. He stomped a large foot on their wings. Sparrowmon screamed rage. Any attempt at firing their lasers only hit more encroaching minions.

Kiriha leaped back, raising his Xros Loader. "Xros Open!"

Nene grit her teeth as the two of them glowed, separating mid-jump. "Sparrowmon!"

The jet darted away towards her and back to the Xros Loader. Akari made to grab her wrist again, chest still aching a little. Nene looked her right in the eye and her stomach dropped to her knees.

"I'm going to trust you know what you're doing," she said quietly. "Just this once."

That should not have sounded as positive as it did right now to her ears. Akari, however, evened her expression out and nodded. "Right," she said. "Zone Open!"

The red Xros Loader was all too happy to oblige and Ballistamon threw Zenjirou bodily to their side as the Digimon were sucked in.

Soon, they were all falling into a sea of green. Akari wanted to smile. She really did. They had a hostage, they had an ally. They had… something.

She wasn't sure what to call Nene at this point. But they would make use of her. And soon, once the meteor fell…

She was that much closer to saving her sworn best friend.

 _Just a little longer, Taiki, I promise._

* * *

Zenjirou eyed both Akari and Nene with concern over the sparking fire. He rubbed his hand, having gotten a Gaozmon to the arm and a freshly dislocated shoulder when Ballistamon had thrown him. Cutemon was trying to heal it, but the arm remained stubborn and swollen and red.

Nene suddenly appeared behind him, and his world went white in pain.

"God, bring them all down on us," Akari said when Zenjirou stopped groaning as loudly.

Nene made a face. "My apologies. He should be easier to heal now."

Akari regarded her. Then she pursed her lips together. "Right. Thanks."

"We have a truce, after all."

Nene's words were careful but Akari took them all the same. At least this time, feeling each other's pain was a benefit rather than a curse.

They could only hope.


	10. Yuu I

_Chapter Ten – The Boy's Fire_ (Yuu I)

Yuu kicked the bed, and not for the first time either.

It hurt his toes, but he was used to it. It was only a brief snag on his toes. It didn't feel as real as his broken nose right now. That just felt too close, too painful, too… something. He couldn't put it to words. All it made him think of was his sister's torn face and her bandaged neck, the way they had just left her there to run from Kiriha-san alone.

Which after cutting her like that would be hard… wouldn't it? Well, if she didn't make it out, she'd still be back at home.

Right?

She had to. There wouldn't be anyone at home if she wasn't there. He would be alone, completely alone and it would be his fault.

 _It'd be her fault for dying though,_ something in him tried to reason. That little angry voice was the one he'd avoided thinking about for so long. Now it was out so often-

(They were winners, they were conquering, if the enemies were weak it was their fault, it had to be-)

 _But you're pulling the trigger,_ reasoned that part of him, smirking all the while. _And you're enjoying it more every single time._

Yuu raised his foot to kick the bed again. Before he could risk breaking the appendage, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Yuu called. Then he winced. His voice was nasally and awful and high but he was still the General of the Bagra Army. He wasn't going to be cowed by a broken nose like some bullied baby.

As he turned around, his eyes lit up and he hobbled over to the door. "Damemon, you're back!" He didn't hesitate to kneel down and hug the poop-shaped ninja. He was just a silly looking thing really, with silly attacks and a giant, guileless, carefree smile. But that didn't mean anything. Damemon was just like him. Underestimating him meant nothing but pain and defeat in that person's future.

Damemon hugged him back. "Didn't I say I would be Yuu-sama? It's no good of you to worry, no good at all!"

Yuu smiled and it hurt because of his nose. "You're right. I just couldn't help it. Nee-san left me… I…" _You can't leave me too, you just can't! I won't let you!_ "I would miss you a lot." That was the mature thing to say of course but it wasn't what he wanted to say. And this was against what DarkKnightmon had said too.

But DarkKnightmon had been missing for a long time. For all Yuu knew, he could have been wrong, or worse a liar. And nobody liked a liar.

But that meant he would have been lying about other things too and that just wasn't possible. He was a Knight, a Knight on the path to redemption and a better world, to help his brother. That was what he had said.

"Well, Yuu-sama," chirped Damemon, breaking into his thoughts like a thief. "If that's your concern, maybe next time I will take you with!"

Yuu smiled wider. "That would be great!"

Damemon clapped his hands. "Wonderful! But until then, the boss wants to see you as soon as possible! Are you in good condition?" Damemon's large eyes looked pointedly at his nose and Yuu flushed.

"Yeah… I tried to make a preemptive strike to protect my sister." He grimaced. "It didn't work and now she's a hostage."

 _Not a traitor. A hostage._

They were using her because they had figured out he couldn't attack without hurting her. That was fine to most everybody else, even Bagramon to some degree. Not to him though ! That was still his sister! And he still cared. He could not see her in pain. Losing a life and respawning was different and he had hurt her. Getting an advantage wasn't worth that.

Damemon took his hand. "I see. Hrm. Well, you can make the report to Bagramon-sama and he'll know what to do, surely."

"But I should too," Yuu said, hearing his voice turn nasally with a whine. "I'm the general. I should know more!"

Damemon frowned a little." Don't be so hard on yourself, Yuu-sama," he said, beckoning Yuu out of his room. Yuu obediently followed, smiling a little at the pure sincerity in his friend -ally's, they couldn't be friends with a battlefield to deploy him on- voice. "You are still quite young and inexperienced. You have a lot to learn even now. That is also why you are here."

Yuu twitched, that bitter part of him wanting to protest, wanting to call out _then why am I here?_ But he didn't because it wasn't fair, not to Damemon. Damemon had always been his friend since the day that they'd met. No matter what anyone had said, Grandma would have been hurt by him spurning someone's kindness.

* * *

Bagramon's throne room was chilly as always. The torches never provided enough warmth. The king did not rise from his throne, but then, as far as Yuu knew he barely left this room, to begin with.

Still, the usurper king smiled when he approached. "You look terrible, young General."

"I apologize for my appearance," Yuu said quickly, fists clenched. "And my insubordination."

The man - angel, he was really a fallen angel- waved his humanoid hand. "Fear not. I would do the same for my brother if I could. Your dedication is admirable. Fear not, we will save her."

The coil of suspicion in his stomach faded, warmth welling up in his chest instead. "Yes, you're right! Thank you!"

How silly. Of course, Bagramon would have thought about that. He was probably worried sick about DarkKnightmon too! Speaking of…

"Did the troops find DarkKnightmon?" His hands balled into fists, chewing on his lip. DarkKnightmon, like it or not, was _his_ strongest soldier. Without him, with the Three Generals off conquering territory, he was incredibly limited in what he could do.

Bagramon leaned off of his hand. "Indeed they did. He's in a terrible state. The prototype Darkness Loaders cannot Xros him back to himself. Every time he speaks, it's in gibberish." He was no longer smiling. The frown set into his face was deep and taut. "He was found in the remnants of Sky Zone by the survivors. They'd been trying to tend to him, and failing that, finally brought up the courage to bring it to our attention."

Bagramon paused. "I'd like you to go investigate."

Yuu frowned curiously. "Me? Why?"

"No one has seen you until recently," replied the usurper king. "And news travels slowly from Zone to Zone. You should be safe with Doumon and Damemon at your side, no?"

Yuu swallowed and nodded. He made himself smile. "Yes, sir! I won't let you down!"

Finally, he could be useful.


End file.
